I went to see most of Mr. and Mrs. Smith today while my car was in the shop – I had to leave about an hour and half through to pick up the car. I chose that one to kill time because I wasn’t expecting to like it; I thought I could just watching an hour or so of stuff gettin’ blowed up and then leave. Now I wish I’d been able to finish it, because I really liked it!
You always hear people griping about the “Hollywood Machine” and how it’s completely vapid and soul-killing, but IMO this movie proves how people who know what they’re doing can make the Hollywood Machine work and use all the money and technical proficiency and big-name stars to their advantage. Mr. and Mrs. Smith isn’t an art film, of course, but it’s clever, funny, and very well done.
The ads don’t make it clear how much of a comedy it is; it’s more a satire than an action movie. It’s kind of like a cross between The War of the Roses and Mission Impossible or some similar big-budget stupid summer spy movie. But it’s more romantic and less bitter than the former, and a whole lot smarter than the latter.
What surprised me the most was that Angelina Jolie was awesome. I’ve never really gotten the appeal of her; she’s always struck me as kind of weird looking and not all that bright – but here, she’s astoundingly hot, really smart, and does action, comedy, romance, all of it extremely well. Brad Pitt – eh. He was competent, but just there.
Like I said, I wish I’d seen the entire thing now, and I’m going to have to see it again.
I saw it a few days ago and agree with everything you said. I can call it the sexiest movie of the sumemr without feeling like a paid off movie critic. Doug Liman decided to go all out, all the glitz, not a hint of reality (the stabbing, the violence in the house, the Spiderman-like escapes), and it worked. Pure sexy violence, the kind we’re all supposed to hat (though at one point I looked at all the dead, uh, guys (I don’t even know who they were) and gasped "What about their families?!) Vince Vaughn could’ve been given some funnier lines. You know, I almost believed he really is tubby and unwashed, living with his mother somewhere…
I thought it was boring. All I wanted was something fun with good fight scenes and a decent plot. The plot was all right but it took way too long for the action to start. And once they did, I didn’t find any of the fight scenes to be that impressive. Also it was too long, I think they could have shaved off at least 45 minutes, mostly of the marital bickering. We get it, they’re not happy!
Maybe I’m just becoming more of a grouch as I get older. I’m almost 21!
I thought the movie was very good. i really liked the extensive character development in the beginning, it made you sympathize with the chars.
And hoo boy. I never liked the two of them overly much but man, they are both amazingly beautiful in this flick. And all the girls who work for her are amazingly beautiful. Get stunned by beauty.
I was promised witty banter! Where’s my witty banter? I want my witty banter!
There was no sex scene. They start to tear each others’ clothes off and then they are panting, having finished.
I went to see it as a present to my wife. She thought it was pleasant fluff. I suppose, by the standards of a Hollywood movie today, it was indeed pleasant fluff. Compared to the awfulness of the Fantastic Four trailer, and the Dukes of Hazzard trailer, and the Bewitched trailer, it may be more pleasant than some of the upcoming summer movies.
But, man. All the reviews promised me witty banter if I sat through the action scenes. I wuz robbed!
Oh yeah, all those female agents at Jane’s work annoyed me. They were all ridiculously young. I guess we know what happened to all those America’s Top Model rejects.
At least we got to see that annoying kid from the O.C. (very small spoiler)get hit in the head with a phone.
I liked it.
Could have done with more sex (and yes, that one scene seemed terribly edited) and less violence, but that really wasn’t what the story was about. They were, after all, having, um, marital troubles. (Still, it irks me that this kind of violence is just fine for the PG-13 set, but sex is such a big no-no.)
Maybe the banter was not the wittiest but there were some good one-liners.
Enjoyed Pitt’s character–the scene with the new curtains, his flustered exchange with the neighbor across the street.
I never used to be such a Jolie fan but have liked her ever since that Jude Law Sky Captain movie.
Agree about the silly spy girl entourage–but if you just sort of suspend all disbelief and go with the flow, this movie is a good time, certainly worth a matinee.
I’ve been looking forward to it and will probably see it today. Although I may see Sharkboy and Lavagirl instead (only because I absolutely love 3d movies!)
I suspect it will be a fun action film and that is usually all I require.
I saw this last night with my mom and a friend and we all really enjoyed it. It was the “pretty people and explosions” movie that we were expecting, but it was also pretty funny too. I agree with SolGrundy in that it is more of a satire of action movies than an action movie itself.
I am also a fan of both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie anyway, but both their performances were great in this. And of course, they both looked amazingly gorgeous.
I thought it was a perfect summer movie–beautiful actors, good chemistry, totally unbelievable action sequences, big explosions, and quite a few funny moments. I liked it a lot more that I thought I would. I think the best fight was the uncomfortable word-sparring when they both know who the other is and they (and we) are never quite sure when the physical fighting will begin
There’s quite a bit to nitpick in the plot (why did they change into suits at the home store?) but if you just keep in mind the mantra, “whatever looks good,” you’ll understand.
Overall I enjoyed it, but the ending was dissatisfying for me. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to spoil the movie, but I just felt it lacked something.
They were in nightshirts and underware before, so they were probably cold. Mostly it was to disguise the bullet-proof vests from the audience.
As for the ending
I liked how it didn’t end all cheesy with everything being perfect. You can tell there’s still some tension and fighting that remains to the end. However, they are up against this huge double spy organization? Why were they even being taken out in the first place? If the spy teams were willing to work together, then their agents should be too.
and I thought the fight scenes between the two were fun.
No, they were in real clothes (they entered the home store right after the scene in the seedy hotel). I know it was done just to juxtapose the suburban setting with their actions, but it was kinda stupid if you think about it.
Just saw this one today and I have to add my applause too . I think it is a wonderfully fun movie , witty , action filled , and the chemistry between them was almost flamable ! I highly reccomend it to anyone that is undecided .
I thought that the action scenes were weak and disjointed, but the dialog was excellent. I can forgive a lot in action films if they don’t try to have something more and the action set peices are good, but this was kind of the opposite with the action set peices being the weakest part of the movie and the joining segments being interesting.
Maybe not worth seeing in the theater but I’m not complaining about having seen it. Definitely at least worth a watch.
I agree with all the posters who liked it for what it was - entertaining summer eye candy rendered with a-notch-above quality vs. say, a Michael Bay ho-hum blow-em-up…
Yeah, high art it ain’t, but it’s enjoyable enough. My wife and I are having a disagreement over the scene where they’re in the van outside the courthouse trading tidbits about their real lives – Pitt says 50-60, I’v been around the block, and Angelina cuts in with “312” and “some of them were two at a time.” I say it’s the real number of people they’ve slept with, the missus says it’s the number of hits.